The Pacific Pelican

Stay tuned for the Pacific Pelican from Lou Brochetti....

Lou has revived a classic design in the San Francisco Pelican tradition. Part Banks dory, with the bow of a sampan and an attractive balanced lug rig, the Pacific Pelican at 14 feet 7 inches over all length is a hybrid between the famous San Fransisco Pelican (12 ft LOA) and the camp cruising classic, the Great Pelican (16 ft. pocket cruiser).

Lou tells me he's had the Pelican up on a plane going down wind in the San Juan Islands in blustery conditions and the modified dory stayed dry and comfortable. The flat bottom, generous rocker and strong side flare are the features that provide stable, extremely seaworthy sailing.

The low aspect balanced lug rig is reefed from the cockpit, providing safety and comfort for your gunkholing experience.

I can attest from personal experience that the Pelican is an easy boat to row, so the cruising purists among you would be able to forget those gas guzzling engines entirely!

The Pelican is a versatile family boat that can explore sandy beaches, weather a weeks vacation sailing, or compete in class racing.

LOA: 14 ft. 7 in.
Extreme Beam: 6 ft. 7 in.
Draft (board up): 5 in.
Draft (board down): 5 ft.
Weight: 600 lbs.
Sail Area : 145 sq. ft.
Cockpit length: 8 ft.



Hal and his wife, Loretta take a sunny day sail in their Pacific Pelican, lovingly restored by Lou.

That's a Coot burgee on the after deck; the Oregon Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association.















The Great Pelican Toucan at 16 ft. LOA is another lengthened version of the San Francisco Pelican. They share the seaworthy characteristics of wide hull flare, sampan bow and flat bottom. The centerboard for this pocket cruiser is weighted and she draws only eight inches with the centerboard up! With the centerboard down the full draft is four feet.
The standing lug sail is fully battened and main plus jib equal a total sail area of 187 square feet.

The Pelican class boats are stable, seaworthy designs that are adaptable to many conditions, from coastal cruising to family sailing lessons. The pram bow and articulating rudder make disembarking on your favorite island beach easy, safe and dry!
Note the hinged tabernacle for the mast...

William Short has this to say about the Great Pelican:
"The Great Pelican is an enlarged version of the immensely popular one-design, The San Francisco Pelican. She is 16 ft. long with an 8-ft. beam and over 30 in. of freeboard amidships. Built with a cabin for cruising, you’ll often find this little boat out as far as the Golden Gate on a windy day and, as any West Coast sailor will tell you, this is as rough as inland sailing can get."
"We even heard from one Great Pelican owner who had sailed his modified home-built down the Pacific Coast to San Diego and then, with his wife as crew, crossed to Hawaii. I would never have recommended such a voyage, because I think of the Great Pelican as a weekender for inland or coastal waters, but I am constantly amazed at the voyages the little boat makes, and it is not limited to the West Coast. I had a call recently from an owner who had sailed his Great Pelican from New Brunswick, Canada down to Florida, and a builder in Nova Scotia claims that the boat is ideal for rough coastal waters."

LOA 16’
Beam 8’
Draft (board up) 8”
Draft (board down) 4’
Sail Area 187 sq. ft.

Toucan's spacious and inviting cuddy cabin interior is roomy and inviting and it's utilitarian dory characteristics are tried and true. The balanced lug rig is a work of art!
I may have to ask Lou to build one of these for me........

Lou Brochetti also sells plans for the Pacific Pelican. He obtained the rights for these plans from the original designers, Ed and Jim Barlow. The Barlows designed the first Pelican in the 1980's and Lou received the rights to the Pacific Pelican a couple years ago:
The plans include six detail sheets with sail and rigging plans and full sized plywood layouts - no lofting required! Full sized patterns are included for special shapes. An instruction book runs 100 pages and has plenty of pictures with the first time builder in mind. Even if you've never built a boat, you could build your own Pacific Pelican!

The information pack for the Pacific Pelican costs $5.00 (postage paid)
And plans cost $90.00 (plus $6.00 shipping)

Lou has also designed a hollow mast with tabernacle for the Great Pelican.
the plans are $35.00 (+ $2.00 shipping).

Lou can be reached at 541-504-0135
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Flota Española Pelican

I recently received a note from Spain in regard to the Pelican class of sailboats.

From Julián: 

"I am also "pelicanero". We are a group of six boat enthusiasts who constitute the "Spanish fleet." Six beautiful Pelican fourteens we sail in northern Spain. "

Julián Fdez. de Velasco del Casar lives in Madrid, and spends his summer holidays in San Juan de la Arena, near the river Nalon, in Asturias. He and his friends sail a fleet of Pelicans in the mouth of the river Nalon. They sail regattas and make afternoon trips in their San Fransisco Pelicans. They claim to comprise the only boats of this class, in all of Spain.

Follow this link to see photos of the Spanish San Fransisco Pelicans during a summer regatta.
More photos of the construction of the Pelican, for those who like that sort of thing.

Bienvenido Julian, y los amigos, a la tribu Doryman de entusiastas de la navegación. Saludos de mi país a la suya, en la comunión. Puede usted tener vientos favorables en todos sus viajes.
Muchas gracias por compartir su amor por la navegación y la alegría de la Pelican en condiciones de navegar con los lectores Doryman.

Sucia Island Rendezvous, Part IV: The Great Pelican Liveaboard

The RAID Continues!














As Full Gallop entered Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island, leading a gaggle of hand built vessels, a sailor at anchor showed particular attention to our progress.


We hailed each other at the same time, with the salutation "What kind of boat is that?".


Randy answered first and said his was a Great Pelican. We pointed behind us to Lou, who was coming up in his Great Pelican, Toucan. Randy literally open his arms wide in surprised salutation.









Randy lives on his Great Pelican four to six months of the year and has been many interesting places, on a boat he built (and modified) himself.
He is a quiet and generous man who supplied us with a bucket of fresh picked oysters for dinner, which were shucked by Lou and cooked by Darrell. Yum!

He and Lou found they had much in common, including their boats. (Randy's is the dark green hull and Lou's is off-white.)












There is a lot of boat in a sixteen foot Great Pelican!

The San Francisco Pelican

Vida Nueva is a San Fransico Pelican. And what a lively paint scheme! The Pelican is a popular boat for the home builder, as it is easy to build, yet delivers safe and seaworthy performance for family sailing. I have seen groups of this design in hot competition, but never one in such hot colors!

Great Pelican for Sale

Lou Brochetti has decided to sell his Great Pelican, Toucan. If anyone is interested, or knows someone who might be, they can reach Lou at:

lbrochetti@isp.com
or: 541-504-0135

Lou lives in central Oregon, US.



A lot of boat in a trailerable package! Lou built this boat (he's a professional boat builder) and his work is top drawer.
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Small Craft Weekend

A photo essay

When two great events happen at the same time, it can be hard to decide which way to go. But then, a busy summer schedule often trumps, which was the case for Doryman last weekend.

The closest event was a gathering of Coots on Fern Ridge Reservoir, in the beautiful Willamette Valley, near Eugene Oregon. So, I dropped by just in time Saturday to visit as the boats returned to the docks from a day on the water. This is my home team, so you've seen some of these boats before.

First up is Bob Larken in his Wavewatcher, a Bolger designed Birdwatcher. Bob is an electronics and computer wizard and his boat is tricked out with amazing stuff. He recently installed a remote controlled tiller pilot so he can steer from any location on the boat.

This is John Kohnen's Redwing, Lazy Jack. He bought this boat recently from a fellow Coot and I think he's happy as a man can be.

Dennis McComber just finished this little runabout from a batteau.com plan. His son started the build and abandoned it. Dennis picked up where he left off and did a great job.

Cal Drake designed and built this Garvey and it's the powerhouse of the group. I don't know how much horsepower it has, but it's a lot. You might have noticed, some of the Coots are moving toward being a power squadron!

Not entirely. Hal Colvin brought his Pacific Pelican, Retta Ann. I've sailed with Hal before in this boat. A very capable craft.

And Lou Brochetti came with his newly refurbished Devlin Egret. So new, she doesn't have a name yet.

Lou likes to tinker with a design as much as I do. He says the sail rig is a bit small and too far forward. We're looking for the upgrade soon Lou!

This is the beauty that caught my eye. The new caretakers of Richardson State Park and the custodians of these docks, own this boat.

She's a Sam Rabl Picaroon and the story is, she was built in 1954 by Sam himself. Obviously the boat has undergone some extensive refitting and I'd like to know more.

A planked Picaroon is rare. The examples I've seen were all made from plywood.


A proper little yacht.

Speaking of proper yachts, north of here a few hundred miles was the first ever Pocket Yacht Palooza, in beautiful Port Townsend, Washington State. This new event was organized by the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters, co-sponsored by the Small Craft Skills Academy and Northwest Maritime Center, and held May 19 at the NWMC.



Marty Loken worked hard to make this inaugural event a success. Give the man a hand!

Photos can be found on the Packet Yachters' website and additional information is provided by Joel Bergen on his Navigator site.

Watch for this one next year.



Here's a teaser from last Saturday, sent in by our friend Brandon.......

Pocket Yacht Palooza 2012

Photos by Brandon Ford

Sucia Island Rendezvous, Part II

A Tribute to Phil Bolger

On Wave Watcher, Bob kept track of the route we took through the San Juan Islands. Wave Watcher is a Phil Bolger designed sharpie with a sprit boom main, built by Bob. An extremely efficient vessel.

Bob's Bolger Birdwatcher is a self righting design with modest sail area. It's narrow beam and shallow draft make it a perfect gunkholing boat that can be rowed, sailed or driven by motor.




















The three Chebacco present at Sucia Island were also designed by Phil and are characterized by ease of handling and practical efficiency.

The Chebacco is a cat-yawl, with a short, unstayed mast, a high-peaked gaff mainsail with a relatively long boom, and a jibheaded mizzen sail with sprit boom.





Jamie's Chebacco Wayward Lass is straight off the plans, simple, elegant and a true head turner. Painted green with light brown decks and an open cockpit, she has a traditional flair.










Chuck's Chebacco Full Gallop has a few inches more height in the cabin than the plans call for and he went one step further by raising the cockpit to accommodate a self bailing sole. A good practical idea, if this extremely seaworthy boat were to ever take on any water!









Chuck is a fan of cutters, so he added a bowsprit with a foresail. We spent quite a bit of time discussing which points of sail favored the additional forward sail area, without which Chuck's Chebacco would be the nearly identical twin to Jamie's. The red hull and tanbark sails further set Full Gallop off.








Cal Cran and George Korbach brought Peso a 20' Chebacco from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Peso offered yet another cabin interpretation. By increasing cabin height and adding slightly more width, this Chebbaco offered the roomiest accommodations of the three.













The Elegant Punt, also by Phil, was represented by Alan's dinghy Creamsicle. Alan has been sailing this little punt since he was a child and is a very proficient mariner.

I had the privilege of sailing with Alan and Jamie on Wayward Lass when they, accompanied by Chuck, graciously ferried me to the Rendezvous on the second day of the trip.









Lou brought his interpretation of the Elegant Punt as a tender for his Great Pelican Toucan. Lou is a talented boat builder as his little yacht and matching tender demonstrate.




















Bolger's Advanced Sharpies have their ancestor in Jessie Cooper, a 25'6" cruising sharpie designed as a live-aboard in a minimal package.




Paul and Meg came from Seattle, Washington with their Jessie Cooper cat yawl sharpie, Tomboy.






And Ratty would say:

"Take the Adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes! 'Tis but a banging of the door behind you, a blithesome step forward, and you are out of the old life and into the new! Then someday, someday long hence, jog home... when the cup has been drained and the play has been played, and sit down by your quiet river with a store of goodly memories for company."